front-palatal
|front-pal-a-tal|
🇺🇸
/ˌfrʌntˈpælətəl/
🇬🇧
/ˌfrʌntˈpælət(ə)l/
front of the palate
Etymology
'front-palatal' originates from English, specifically the words 'front' and 'palatal', where 'front' ultimately derives from Latin 'frons, frontis' (via Old French 'front') meaning 'forepart' or 'front', and 'palatal' derives from Latin 'palatum' meaning 'palate'.
'palatal' developed from Latin 'palatum' → Late Latin/Medieval Latin 'palatālis' → Romance/Old French and then into modern English as 'palatal'. 'front' entered English via Old French 'front' from Latin 'frons, frontis' and became Middle/Modern English 'front'. The compound 'front-palatal' is a modern technical formation combining these elements to describe an articulatory place.
Initially the elements referred separately to 'front' and 'palate'; over time the compound came to be used in phonetics to denote sounds or articulatory positions specifically at the front part of the palate ('located at the front of the palate').
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
describing a speech sound articulated with the body of the tongue raised toward the front part of the hard palate; located at or relating to the front region of the (hard) palate.
Many languages have front-palatal consonants produced with the tongue body near the front of the hard palate.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2026/01/07 08:25